New government accused of ‘performative justice’ and making deals with suspects in 2013 Tadamon massacres
Ahmad al-Homsi is a deep sleeper, but when he was woken last month and told that Amjad Youssef, a Syrian intelligence officer who killed civilians in the 2013 Tadamon massacres, had been arrested, he bolted out of bed. He ran into the street to find other people already celebrating the news.
“We stayed out for almost three or four days celebrating. People from neighbouring areas sent camels, sheep, livestock for us to slaughter and distribute them to people. The tears of joy didn’t stop,” said al-Homsi, a 33-year-old activist with the Tadamon Coordination Committee, which documented the atrocities in the Damascus neighbourhood.
To al-Homsi and people all over the country, Youssef’s arrest was a milestone in Syria’s long road to achieving justice for the Assad regime’s atrocities. The video of Youssef killing blindfolded civilians as part of a series of massacres that killed at least 300 civilians had become synonymous with the regime’s brutality.
But al-Homsi’s joy turned to anger when he saw a seemingly forced confession released by Syria’s interior ministry last Sunday, in which Youssef was put in front of a camera and said he acted alone in his killing of civilians.
